High School Days
by LetsGiveThisOneMoreShot
Summary: Let's take it back to the old days where everyone was back in high school. Randy is a senior and a brother. The Shield are attempting to run the school. The New day liven it up. Alexa Bliss an her crew make life a living hell for the girls they don't like. Come along on their year of adventures and relive the glory days.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Let me start by saying that this story is supposed to be set in a high school. None of the mean or negative things said or done in this story are views supported by me. This is just what stereotypically seems to happen in high school type stories/movies/tv. I do not condone bullying. **

Vanessa stood in her room looking at her outfit in the full length mirror. This was the fourth outfit that she put together this morning, and she wasn't liking how this one looked on her either. Over the summer, her body had gone through some changes and she now had curves in places that she didn't before, and she wasn't sure how to deal with it. Nothing looked right on her anymore. Her butt looked too big, shirts showed too much cleavage, she worried she looked big. She wanted to try and find something else to wear, but her brother barging into her room told her she didn't have any more time.

"What is taking you so long? We need to get going and you haven't even eaten yet!" Randy said to her.

"Do I look okay?" She asked him in response.

"You look great. Now let's go." Randy said trying to rush her.

"Seriously Randy. Does this make me look fat? I feel like my thighs look huge."

"What has gotten into you?" Randy asked as he entered her room further.

He knew she couldn't be nervous about school, this wasn't her first year there. He looked around and saw that she had clothes thrown all over the floor which was very unlike her. She was always very neat and organized. She also never really put the effort into "finding the perfect outfit" before.

"What the hell happened here?" He asked surprised.

"I can't find anything to wear." Vanessa replied.

"Well you better hurry up."

"Why are you in such a rush to get to school anyway?"

"Because I'm a senior this year. This is going to be the best year of my life. Duh."

Vanessa rolled her eyes. Of course he would be excited. Senior was exciting, especially the extra privileges that went along with it. Not to mention he was a good looking popular student. He wouldn't understand how she was feeling.

"What's really going on Nessie?" Randy asked as he sat on the edge of her bed.

Vanessa sighed. "Nothing fits me like it used to. I look stupid in everything. And I don't want to deal with the likes of the stuck up snobby bitches at school about it."

Randy laughed. "Ness, this is Connecticut. Ninety percent of the students are stuck up."

"You know that is the opposite of helpful."

"Ness, it happens at this age."

"Randy stop. You are not having this talk with me." Vanessa said cutting him off.

"I'm just saying you're not going to be the only one."

"Why couldn't I have turned out like you? You got tall and muscular.

"I lifted weights to get muscular. That wasn't puberty."

"Well, whatever."

"You look fine. I promise I wouldn't let you go out looking stupid knowing it would upset you that much." Randy told her.

Vanessa smiled. "Thanks Randy."

He returned the smile. "You're welcome. Now let's go! I have to meet the guys." He whined as he got up and left the room.

Vanessa grabbed her backpack and followed him down the stairs. She grabbed an apple on her way out the door and went out to his car.

"So any stuck up bitches in particular you're worried about?" Randy asked as he drove.

"Mostly Alexa and Mickie. Mickie follows everything she says." Vanessa answered.

"Alexa? Why? She followed you all around last year trying to be your friend. Why would she be mean to you now?"

"She was only hanging around me to try and get to you. I shut that down" She informed him.

"Ah. Got it."

Randy pulled into the student parking lot. They were barely out of the car before Vanessa's best friend Carmella ran up to them and attacked them. They hadn't seen each other much over the last few weeks due to Carmella being away.

"I guess my peace and quiet is going to end now huh?" Randy joked.

"You know you missed me." Carmella said with a smile.

"No, not really." Randy said, then walked over to his group of friends that were in the parking lot.

"So you made it all the way through cheer camp?" Vanessa asked her.

"Yup! It wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be."

"You still going out for the cheer team?"

"Of course! It's the closest thing we have to a dance team."

Carmela sure did look like the perfect cheerleader. Slim, blonde, and beautiful, but she was far from it. She was really more of a tough and easy going girl that liked to hang out in sweatpants with her friends. She would rather be watching a football game rather than cheering for one, but she did enjoy parts of it.

"So are you ready for school today?" Carmella asked as they walked towards the building.

"Not as ready as they are." Vanessa answered as she pointed over to Randy and his friend Hunter.

"Man, you'd think it was the last day of school with the way those two are acting." Carmella commented.

"I have never seen Randy so excited to get to school."

"Is it time to go home yet?" Vanessa asked as she put her lunch tray down at the table where Carmella and their friend Zelina were sitting.

"Bad morning?" Zelina asked.

"No, just boring me to sleep. Class after class of the same exact thing. And for English I'm supposed to write a 3-5 page paper about what I did this summer. How am I supposed to turn "I slept" into three pages?!"

Carmella and Zelina laughed. Alexa was walking around the lunch room and had stopped at their table.

"So Vanessa, I heard some things about you this morning. Some people thought you had surgery over the summer. But judging by all the crap you have on your tray I'm going to guess that's not where those extra pounds came from. Alexa gave a cocky smile and turned to walk away to a table that her friends were sitting at.

"Looks like someone's just jealous they didn't get their boobs yet." Carmella commented as she ate her lunch.

That comment made Alexa stop and turn back around. "I don't know why anyone would think you got a boob job anyway. You'd think if you did anything you would've fixed your face first."

"Is that why you don't have boobs yet? Still recovering from your face?"

"Ooooh that burn was almost as bad as this pizza!" Xavier commented as he walked up to the table to sit don. Behind him was Kofi and Ettore, who usually went by "E".

Alexa huffed and continued walking to her table.

"Well she really changed since last year." Zelina remarked.

"Yeah, she slutted up her clothes and opens her legs to anyone who walks by." Carmella added.

"Really? Well excuse me, I have to walk that way." Xavier stated as he stood up.

"Yeah right. After that burn remark she don;t want nothing to do with you." Kofi laughed.

"Yeah, you're right." Xavier sat back down.

The second half of the day was just about as boring as the first. Vanessa hadn't seen Randy again until she met him at his car after school.

"So how was your day?" He asked as they got in.

"Alexa called me fat and started a rumor that I had plastic surgery. How was yours?"

Randy cringed. He knew that's what she was worried about more than anything this morning, although he didn't think they'd take it as far to start that kind of rumor.

"It could have been worse." He tried to make her feel better.

"It was in the lunch room in front of everyone." She added.

"So how did everything else go?" Randy asked trying to change the subject

When they pulled into the driveway when they got home, they saw a group of teenagers around their age standing around in the front yard next door. They were for lack of a better term the school bullies. They liked to do their own thing, instigate trouble, try and get away with murder, Roman, Seth, and Dean. Dean was just a jerk who did whatever he pleased. Seth was a pretty boy with a huge ego. And Roman was just big and intimidating. Vanessa really understood how Roman fell in with them. Thew grew up next door to each other in a very nice neighborhood. They used to talk as they walked to the bus stop together and study together. He was never a mean person. He was actually pretty quiet most of the time. She always assumed the other two were using him for his money and house. She knew Dean wasn't from a nice area, and she wasn't sure of much about Seth other than he thought he was better than everyone so he probably felt entitled to Roman's stuff.

As Vanessa and Randy got out of the car, all three stared in their direction.

"So Mella is staying over this weekend." She told Randy.

He groaned. "Can't I just have one more weekend of peace?"

"Well I could be ice and go over to her place, but I don't think I will. So no."

"So Maryse and Mike are back on again I see." Vanessa said as she grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bowl on the floor of her room.

"Yup. They took most of the summer off." Carmella replied.

"I don't know how they can do that. How can you care about someone and be okay with them dating other people?"

"It works for some people." Carmella stated as she grabbed some popcorn too.

"So what's going on with you and Dolph?"

"Ugh, nothing. I tried to give him a chance but all he ended up doing was hitting on me at school and drunk texting me last night. It's just not worth it." Carmella explained sounding disappointed.

Vanessa nodded in agreement. Then there was some kind of loud commotion from outside. It sounded like firecrackers going off and people yelling.

"What the hell was that?" Carmella asked as she sat up from her spot on the floor.

Vanessa groaned. "Probably the idiots next door. They've been spending even more time over there lately."

Vanessa got up and walked over to her bedroom window which faced the yard next door. She could see Roman, Seth, and Dean in the yard and sparks going off. She opened the window to yell out to them.

"You do know the fourth of July is over right?"

"We needed to get your attention somehow!" Dean yelled back to her.

"Why?"

"We heard that hot friend of yours would be spending the night tonight!" Seth replied as he stuck his tongue out.

Vanessa giggled as she heard Carmella making a gagging noise behind her. "I don't think she's interested.

"Come on doll face. Why don't you two come down here and spend some time with us." Dean yelled out.

"Yeah, you can come see our firecrackers."

"You are seriously disturbed."

"Hey!" Vanessa heard a voice yell from below her. Randy had heard everything going on and opened the door and stepped outside. "You have about five seconds to leave my sister alone and get inside the house before I come over there, light a firecracker, and shove it up your ass."

Vanessa shut her window and sat back down with Carmella and they continued talking and eating. A few minutes later Randy came upstairs into her room.

"If they bother either of you again, let me know."

"Thanks Randy."

"Carmella, you can do what you want, but if I were you I wouldn't get involved with them." Randy advised.

"Hadn't planned on it." She answered.

"What about me?" Vanessa asked.

"I have authority over you. You don't get a choice." He told her with a smile, then left closing the door behind him. The girls couldn't help but giggle at the protective side of him.


	2. Chapter 2

The remainder of the year continued about the same. Vanessa and Alexa feuding. Deah, Seth, and Roman harassing everyone. Kofi, E, and Xavier being class clowns. Over the course of the summer they were playing video games and working on a comedy youtube channel. Carmella continued practicing cheer-leading and got really good at it. Zelina had gotten really into art and explored it a lot. While doing that she kept running into their classmate Aleister, she knew of him but never really talked to him. Since they kept meeting up, they actually talked and realized they had a lot in common and ended up spending a lot of time together. Vanessa was on a job through the park one afternoon and ran into another classmate, Elias, playing his guitar by a tree. She stopped briefly to listen which ended up with them going to lunch together. By the time school had started back up they were dating.

"So are you ready for your first day of school without your brother breathing down your neck?" Carmella asked as she drove both of them to school.

"I do miss him, it's weird not having him at home. But it is nice not having him put his two cents into everything I do." Vanessa replied.

Vanessa and Randy were really close. They were just over a year apart so they did a lot of things together growing up. They were always friends and were always able to talk with each other and depend on each other. But that didn't mean they were immune to sibling rivalry and fights. She was excited to be at school by herself and not be Randy's little sister, but walking around home without him there was weird.

"Speaking of his two cents, how did he take it when you told him he had a boyfriend he couldn't interrogate?"

"He doesn't know yet." Vanessa told her.

Carmella opened her mouth shocked. "You didn't tell him?"

"He'll find out when he finds out." Vanessa said with a smile.

"I can't believe you're keeping a secret from Randy."

"It's not a secret. I just haven't gotten around to tell him yet. And he hasn't asked."

When they got to school they went to their lockers first thing. They saw a few new faces of people that looked to be their age walking in a group together. They assumed they were the foreign exchange students that were there for the semester, but that's all they knew at that point.

"So you know you're coming to games with me this year and watching me cheer right?" Carmella told Vanessa as they sorted out their things in their lockers.

"Do I get a choice in this?"

"Nope."

"Well look who it is." They heard Seth's voice say behind them. They both turned to see him along with Roman and Dean walking towards them.

"Looks like we're going to be spending a lot more time together this year." Dean stated as he put his arm around Carmella's shoulders.

"Um, ew." Carmella said as she pushed his hand away. "Why?"

"Our boy here is joining the football team." Seth said as he pat Roman on the back.

"You do know you have to have a certain gpa to play sports right? Like, on your own. Not combined." Carmella told them.

"I do just fine." Roman spoke up.

"Besides, they'll keep him no matter what if they actually want a chance at winning for a change."

"Well at least we don't have to worry about you hitting your head too hard and losing brain cells." Carmella stated and turned back to her locker.

"Hey. You two better watch it." Dean threatened.

"Or what?" Carmella asked putting her hands on her hips.

"Your brother isn't around here to get involved in our business this year."

"Oh, I'm so scared. Because I'm completely incapable of doing anything for myself." Carmella mocked.

"Come on Mella, let's get to class." Vanessa said as she shut her locker.

Carmella flipped her hair and walked away with Vanessa. They met up with Elias outside of their first class They gave each other a kiss as Carmella joked about them needing to get a room.

"What took you guys?" Elias asked.

:We got caught up with my neighbor and his jerk friends." Vanessa replied.

"Oh? You need me to say something to them?" Elias offered.

"No, we're good. Mella and her mouth have it handled." Vanessa laughed.

Carmella smiled proudly and walked into the classroom.

That day after school a big group of people met at a local diner to hang out and eat. They were talking about their day, their schedules, the foreign exchange students that they learned were there from Ireland.

"So what's with them? Are they a thing now?" Maryse asked Carmella as she looked down to the other end of the table at Zelina and Aleister.

"They haven't said they are. I think maybe they just don't want to put a label on it." She answered.

"Have you spent much time with him? He seems so weird." Maryse asked as she scrunched up her nose.

Carmella shrugged. "He seems okay."

"He's in my history class. He's been pretty quiet overall but he seems to know his stuff." Mike chimed in. "Which come to think of it can actually be pretty creepy considering what we cover."

"I would take History with him over Chemistry with Dean Ambrose. I'm afraid he's going to blow up the lab!" Carmella exclaimed. "It;s not funny! It's going to happen and it won't be an accident!"

"Worst class I got was Mr. Flair." Elias added to the conversation.

"What's wrong with him? Other than getting a little over excited and giving himself a heart attack." E asked.

"Yeah but not when Charlotte is in the same class." Elias replied.

"Ooooh, that's tough."

"We lucked out. Me, Kofi, and Vanessa are in the same English class." Xavier stated.

"Unfortunately along with Seth Rollins." Vanessa added rolling her eyes.

"But you get Mr McIntyre." Carmella noted.

"That is true." Vanessa said.

"Lucky! His accent is so dreamy." Maryse said.

"You do know I'm right here, right?" Mike stated as everyone laughed.

"At least we all seemed to luck out and no one got stuck with Alexa." Zelina pointed out.

"What is it with you girls and all the hate?" Mike asked.

"You don't understand! She is the human form of Satan!"

"Speaking of the devil…" Zelina said as the door to the diner opened and Sasha, Mickie, and Alexa walked in.

'Well, time to go."

**Sorry I know this one was a little bit shorter, but I'll make up for it with the next one!**


	3. Chapter 3

"Why did I agree to do this again?" Vanessa asked as she stood by the football field with Carmella.

"Because if you're selling tickets you can't leave." She replied with a smile.

"Why are we selling tickets to a high school football game anyway?"

"Because people buy them."

"Why?" Vanessa whined. "Shouldn't it be free?"

"Come on Carmella. We need to get to the locker room." Alexa yelled over to them.

Carmella rolled her eyes. " I can't believe she joined the squad."

"Really? You can't believe she wanted to be in a skimpy outfit surrounded by the most popular guys in school with everyone's eyes on her?" Vanessa asked with a laugh.

"Good point." Carmella stated.

"Carmella!" Alexa yelled again.

"I better get going before she loses it."

Carmella ran off towards the school to join the rest of the squad in the locker room. She had talked Vanessa into volunteering to sell tickets as a way of getting her to come to the game. The game started at 4:30 in the afternoon and ticket sales ended at 5:00. It wasn't all bad since she got to chat with people while she was there. She met the Irish exchange students, Shaemus, Becky, and Finn, as they decided to come check out American football. She invited them out with her friends next time they did something. She also got to talk with a few other classmates. Elias was with her until the game started before going in and taking a seat telling her he would see her inside. Vanessa was just getting ready to close up when she saw Seth and Dean strolling towards the football field.

"Excuse me." She called out. "Where do you think you're going?"

"We're going to watch our boy play." Dean answered back.

"Not without a ticket you're not." She informed them.

"Really? Because I think it's physically possible for me to do so," Dean retorted.

"Try it and I'll have to call over coach Cesaro." Vanessa threatened crossing her arms.

They grumbled under their breath and walked over to the table she was at not wanting to get the muscular football coach involved. Especially since the game had already started.

"How much are they getting us for these?" Seth asked annoyed.

"Ten each. But for you I'll do two for thirty."

They both looked at her with a look of annoyance. Seth dug twenty bucks out of his pocket and threw it down on the table in front of her.

"So what you brought you out here doing this tonight? Getting to pick and choose who you could let in?" Seth taunted as she was putting the money into the lockbox and ripping off two tickets. "Finally trying to have some control over things now that your brother is gone and you have some space? I bet you're getting off on it."

She handed Seth the tickets. "Trust me Seth, absolutely nothing involving you gets me off."

His face turned to anger and Dean couldn't help but chuckle. Vanessa grabbed the lockbox of money and walked away towards the field.

"Where the hell did you get balls from all of the sudden?"

"I don't know. Have you checked to see if yours were still there?"

He was right. Within the last few weeks she had changed a bit. Normally she was more quiet and reserved but lately she was getting more outspoken. Maybe it was because Randy was gone. She knew she couldn't just let others push her around and he wasn't there to stop them, so she had to stand up and do it. She was doing just as well in school as she always had. She was going out with her friends more really trying to enjoy her senior year just as Randy had. By the time Halloween rolled around, she was actually excited to go out to a Halloween party where normally she would just stay at home and pass out candy.

Mike was throwing it at his house with Maryse's help. Vanessa decided on dressing up as a cowgirl. She wanted to look cute, but not one of those overly exposing costumes. She just wanted to go out and have fun. When she arrived at Mike's house he was dressed up as some kind of 80's rockstar. Maryse was dressed as an angel and was complaining that she wanted them to match. One by one other's started showing up. Carmella was dressed as a care bear. Xavier, E, and Kofi were dressed as unicorns. No one knew why. Shaemus, Becky, and Finn were invited as well. Shaemus was dressed as a Leprechaun, Finn was some sort of demon, and Becky was catwoman. As with many high school parties, there was a lack of adult supervision, an abundance of alcohol, and lots of uninvited gets around, people show up, many in some kind of masks.

Vanessa was talking to Bayley while holding onto a drink. Bayley was one of those bubbly people who tried to get along with everyone. She always tried to see the positive side of everything.

"I'm so sorry to hear about you and Elias." Bayley said in a comforting tone.

"It's okay. It just wasn't working out." Vanessa replied. "We ended it mutually with no hard feelings, I think."

Alexa was standing behind them eavesdropping, dressed as a sexy black cat. Trying to get attention from anyone who would give it. Carmella soon joined Bayley and Vanessa.

"Where's Zelina?" She asked over the music.

"She and Aleister are going on a romantic walk through the cemetery."

"Ew."

"Hey it works for them." Vanessa said repeating Carmella's own words from a few months ago.

"Weirdos. Speaking of weirdos, I need to go get a picture with those three!"

Carmella ran off into the direction of the men dressed as unicorns. Vanessa laughed and took another drink. She turned around and came face to face with Seth Rollins. Roman and Dean were off in the distance.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be off egging someone's house?"

"We'll take care of that later. You have to wait for people to go to bed so they dont catch you."

"Thanks for the advise. You have fun with that." Vanessa said walking passed him.

"Sorry about the break-up." He said causing her to stop.

"How do you know about that already?"

"Word gets around. So what was the problem? He cheat? Couldn't take care of you good enough? You finally got sick of that damn guitar?"

"Oh God, that's not why you're over here is it?"

"Trying to flatter yourself?" He chuckled. "I'm trying to go for catwoman over there. She's my type right now."

"Of course it is. Thin, beautiful, and most importantly doesn't know anything about you."

"More like sexy accent and will be gone in a few months."

"Again, you're disgusting."

"Relax. If you're jealous I'm sure you could find someone to go home with if you wanted."

"No thanks. I'm good."

"What about one of those nice Irishmen?"

"Yeah right."

"You never know if you don't try."

"Face it Seth, I'm not really anybody's type. Elias and I only lasted a few months and in the last three years he's the most serious boyfriend I had. Probably because the older I got less petite and perfect I got unlike all the other girls around here are."

Seth looked at her for a moment to try and see if she was joking or serious. "I don't know if you're drunk or that nilave. No one dated you because they were scared Randy would have beat their ass. And trust me, no guy here think you're fat or unattractive. Far from it."

"Uh thanks...I think…" Vanessa said slightly confused,

"Now I gotta go find me a cat woman." Seth said then walked away.

Vanessa took another sip of her drink and walked over to where Carmella and a few other people stood. "You are not allowed to leave me alone ever again."

An hour or so later the party was still in full swing. Everyone seemed to be having a great time. Some people had stopped by before going to another party, some stopped by after going to another one first. Some people they didn't know. Either friends of friends or people coming from another school. Carmella was actually getting ready to leave this party and go somewhere else so she was looking around for Vanessa. She couldn't find her anywhere she looked. Eventually Maryse said that she had seen her.

"Last I saw she was stumbling up the stairs to the bathroom." She said.

"How long ago?" Carmella asked.

"About ten minutes."

"Okay thanks."

Carmella jogged up the stairs looking for Vanessa. She didn't see her in the hallway and there was no one in the bathroom up there. She figured maybe she went back downstairs and Maryse hadn't seen her, so she went back downstairs to look again. Maybe she wandered outside. Roman had been by the stairs and had heard Maryse and Carmella talking. He had also seen Vanessa go upstairs when Maryse did, so when he saw Carmella come down alone he was confused. He hadn't left that spot since he saw Vanessa go up and he hadn't seen her come back down. He decided to go upstairs and have a look for himself. He also found the bathroom empty. There were a few people talking up in the hallway. He opened the door that was across from the bathroom. It appeared to be a guest room. In that room he found Vanessa slumped down on the floor next to the bed.

"Shit Vanessa." He ran over and knelt down beside her.

"Hm." She hummed moving her head around to where she heard the voice coming from. "Hey Rome. What are you doing here?"

Vanessa sounded like she was half asleep.

"How much did you drink?" He asked as he pushed the hair out of her face.

"What are you my mom" She mumbled barely coherent.

"Vanessa." He said sternly.

She tried to push his hand away. "I just had this one jeez."

"Doesn't seem like it."

Roman heard Dean calling for him as he was walking up the stairs.

"In here." Roman called.

"Hey. Seth's heading out, so I wondered if you wanted to get out of here too...Dude, what's going on?" Dean asked as he entered the room.

"I don't know. I just found her like this. I think she drank too much but she said she only had one."

"She'd have to have been constantly drinking all night long in order to be that blackout drink already." Dean stated as he walked over next to her. "Hey." He said as he tapped her on the cheek. Vanessa just groaned and turned away. "She doesn't smell like she's been drinking that much either. I think she was drugged."

"What?" Roman asked surprised.

"I've seen it before." He said as he looked at her. She was drifting slowly in and out of consciousness. "What? Don't look at me like that. I didn't say I've done it, I said I've seen it."

"What do we do?"

"She needs to go somewhere safe and sleep it off. And make sure she drinks a lot of water when she wakes up." Dean advised.

Roman stood up and picked up Vanessa.

"What are you doing?"

"Well I can't leave her here. I don't know who did this or why."

"You wanna drop her off at home?"

"And how am I supposed to explain this to her mom? I'm bringing her to my place."

Dean rolled his eyes. He didn't really want to spend his Halloween babysitting, but then again he knew it would be wrong to leave her there.

"Do me a favor. I'm going to get her in my car and take her home. Can you go find Carmella and tell her. She was looking for Vanessa." Roman said before he left the room.

"Yeah sure." Dean went back downstairs and searched the house for Carmella. "Hey, Mell."

"Ugh, Dean I don't have time for you right now." She said trying to move passed him.

"I know you're looking for Vanessa."

"Yeah. Have you seen her?"

"Roman found her passed out upstairs."

"Oh my God."

"He took her out to his car and is taking her home. If you don't have your car I guess I can drive you over there if you want." Dean offered reluctantly.

"Damn right. I'm not leaving her alone."

"Relax, she's fine with Roman. It's whoever did this you need to watch out for."

When they got to Roman's house, Roman had already put her into his bed to rest. After some arguing they convinced Carmella that Vanessa was safe with Roman and he wouldn't do anything. Once that was settled, they started to try and figure out how this happened.

"Who do you think did this?" Roman asked.

"I don't know. There were a lot of people there." Carmella answered.

"But do we know anyone who is messed up enough to do this?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, coming from you that is one hell of a statement...no offense." Carmella stated.

Dean thought about getting mad for a minute, but then he realized his reputation and where he came from. He ended up just shrugging.

"Are we even sure it was meant for her? Maybe she picked up the wrong drink? Or maybe someone put something in the wrong drink." Roman said throwing out some ideas.

"I don't know, but I'm going back to the party to go talk with Maryse and try to figure this out. Come on Dean."

"Why do I have to go?" He asked.

"You're driving." She told him, then walked out of Roman's bedroom.


	4. Chapter 4

Vanessa woke up the next morning in a bed that didn't feel like her own. She opened her eyes and rubbed them trying to get them to adjust to her surroundings. She saw dark walls with posters hanging on them. There was a desktop computer. A guitar leaning against the wall. This was not her room. She sat up quickly, soon regretting it when she felt the pounding in her head. She grabbed her head. When she did it moved the blanket and she could see that she was still in her Halloween costume, except for her boots and hat. She looked over at the chair that was in the corner and saw Roman asleep in it with a blanket on him.

She had no idea what to think. Without having an actual plan, she ignored whatever pain she had in her head, got out of bed, and tried to run over to Roman to wake him up. Unfortunately for her, she didn't see Dean's boots sticking out on the floor at the end of the bed near hers and she tripped over them and fell to the floor. That woke Dean up cursing, which startled Roman awake. He looked down at Vanessa who looked scared.

"Morning Doll. How was our first sleepover?" Dean asked as he sat up.

"Dean." Roman sighed.

"What the hell is going on?" Vanessa asked worridly.

"I'll go get some water." Dean said as he stood up.

"Roman…"

Roman got out of his chair and knelt down on the floor next to her. "Calm down, it's okay."

Vanessa was crying at this point. "What happened, did we…"

"No, no I promise. Nothing like that happened." Roman said as he held her hand. "I'm not really sure what happened with you last night. I found you barely conscious at the party. Dean said it looked like you were drugged. So I brought you here."

"What?!"

"I don't know what happened. I don't know what you had. You might want to go to a doctor or the hospital and get checked out." Roman suggested.

"How ya feeling?" Dean asked as he came back into the room with a bottle of water and some pain reliever.

She looked up at him. "My head hurts. A lot."

"I figured it would. Make sure you keep drinking." He said as he tossed the bottle to her. "You should get back in bed and get some rest."

"No, I should get home." Vanessa said as she stood up. This was a lot for her to take in and she really just wanted to be in her own room where she felt safe.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Roman asked.

"No I'm good thanks. Thank you both."

She picked up her shoes and left his got across the yard and into her own house as quick as she could. She didn't even know what time it was, but thankfully for her it was still very early and everyone in the house was still asleep. She was able to sneak into her room. She didn't want to tell her parents about this and didn't want to spend the day in the hospital. That would end up leading to police being involved and a whole bunch of drama going down. She just climbed into her own bed and covered herself up. That afternoon there was a knock on the front door that her mother answered.

"Well hello Roman. I haven't seen you in a while." Her mother stated.

"Yeah I know. Things have been busy with school and football and all." He replied respectfully.

"Is all of that work keeping you out of trouble?" She asked.

He slightly chuckled. "Well, I haven't been arrested yet. I was wondering if Vanessa was home? I wanted to talk with her about something at school."

"She is, but she's not really feeling too good right now. I went in to check on her earlier and she said she came home from Mike's party last night pretty early because she felt sick. Carmella was over earlier to check on her."

"Oh, do you think it would be okay if I just spoke with her for a few minutes? I kind of wanted to go over some things before Monday."

"As long as she's up for it. You can come in and check." Her mother answered letting Roman into the house.

She walked up stairs and down the hall with Roman following her. She knocked lightly on Vanessa's bedroom door.

"Come in." Vanessa said from the other side.

"Honey Roman is here. He said you needed to talk about some things for school before Monday if you're up for it."

"Oh,yeah sure."

Her mother stepped aside letting Roman in, then left the two alone leaving the door open behind her.

"Have you been keeping up with the water like Dean said?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I didn't see any cars leave throughout the day so I figured you didn't go get checked out, so I wanted to come over and make sure you were doing okay."

"I'm okay. More upset than anything."

"Your mom told me that Carmella was over here earlier."

"Yeah she was here pretty early. You didn't tell me that she was with you last night."

"Kind of slipped my mind. Did you find anything out?"

"Not really. I know Carmella went back to the party on a rampage. She found Maryse, told her what happened, and Maryse damn near shut the party down. She started throwing everyone out that she didn't know. But no one really seemed to know anything about it. All they were really able to gather is some guys making gross comments about wanting to ride the cowgirl, and Alexa saying something about me getting what I deserved. For all I know this was just some kind of fluke."

"I'm so sorry Vanessa." Roman said kindly.

"Don't be. You have nothing to be sorry for. You did everything you could to help." Vanessa said with a small smile.

"That's what any decent person would have done."

"Well you don't exactly run with the most decent people these days.

"They're not that bad…"

"They're assholes."

"Okay. They're assholes. But I like having them around." Roman admitted. "And they're not all bad, you saw how helpful Dean was. Look don't tell anyone, but I'm still a straight A student. I'm doing football to try and get a scholarship for college. And I still help my mom cook dinner every Sunday. If that gets out it'll ruin my image."

"Is that why you're so quiet all the time?"

"Everyone just thinks I'm big and scary, so I let them. But I'm not really much different than I was before. Anyway, I just wanted to come see if you were okay. That being said, I'll be out back later eating all the left over Halloween candy like I did every year if you care to join me."

"No thanks. I really don't think I could deal with it if your friends showed up. As nice as you think they are."

"I'll clear my schedule." Roman smiled.  
"I'll think about it."


	5. Chapter 5

It was a Friday night. Vanessa had decided to go out for a jog around her neighborhood and try to clear her head a bit. She was trying to let whatever happened on Halloween just go. She asked her friends not to bring it up around her. She couldn't even be sure if what happened was done on purpose or by accident. Or if it was by someone she knew or didn't know. For all she knew someone brought it for themselves to try and mess themselves up and it ended up getting to her by accident. At this point there was no way to find anything out for sure unless someone admitted to something and getting the police involved would destroy her socially, so she was just trying to let it go.

She had her earbuds in with her music playing loudly. It wasn't late but the sun had set early this time of year allowing her to blend into the darkness. She was lost in her thoughts when suddenly someone had grabbed her around the waist and pulled her behind a jeep that was parked on the street. She tried to push them away and turn around while pulling her earbuds out as quickly as possible.

"Seth! What the hell is wrong with you!"

"I tried calling out to you but you didn't hear me."

"What the hell for?"

Seth pointed down the street at a couple of younger teenage boys riding their bikes away. "Drake Maverick and his buddies like to ride around and shoot at the joggers with water guns."

"Why?"

"How should I know? I've just seen them do it."

"You really shouldn't just go around grabbing people in the dark like that." Vanessa told him, trying to shake off that feeling of being rattled.

"Fine then. Next time I see you about to be part of an impromptu wet t shirt contest, especially in the middle of November, I'll leave you be."

"What are you doing here anyway?" Vanessa asked.

"I live here." Seth answered gesturing to the house behind him.

"What? Since when?"

Vanessa was genuinely surprised. She had no idea they lived in the same area.

"Moved in a little over a year ago."

"That's good to know. I'll have to adjust my jogging route now."

Seth chuckled. "Why? I think I'm above stopping people and beating them up for their lunch money."

"But not beyond hiding out and scaring them apparently." Vanessa said as she looked down at her phone.

She had felt it vibrate. She saw a message from Carmella that said she decided to throw a mid-term study sleepover. Vanessa smiled, she liked the idea of that night.

"What are you so happy about?" Seth asked.

"Plans. I gotta get going back home." She answered as she replied to Carmella's text saying she'd be over as soon as she took a quick shower.

"You want a ride? I was just on my way to Roman's." Seth offered.

"No thanks."

"Suit yourself. Good luck dodging the water guns." Seth said as he unlocked his jeep.

"Wait." She called out.

It was only a few streets over. Even in the middle of November, her being dressed and jogging it wasn't so bad out. However, that would be a different story if she was doused with 3 water guns then still had to get home.

"Just don't kill me okay?" Vanessa said as she got into the passenger's seat.

"No promises." Seth replied as he started the car. "So, you got a date tonight?"

"No."

"Has Dolph asked you out since you split with Elias?"

"No?" Vanessa answered confused.

"I heard him say he's going to start making his rounds over winter break." Seth commented as he drove.

"I don't think he will after blowing it with Mella."

"Eh, he might. He's Dolph. We grew up a few houses down from each other. I love the guy but he's kind of a scumbag."

"Must be why you get along."

"So what about one of those Irishmen I mentioned the other night? You can still try one of them before they go back home."

"I am not discussing my love life with you Seth."

Ever since they started high school, Seth was good at pushing people's buttons and being annoying. He just knew how to get under people's skin. But he rarely got any pushback from anyone about it. Which led him to believe he could get away with murder.

"But, thanks for the ride." Vanessa said as he pulled up in front of Roman's house.

"No problem. It was nice company."

"Yeah, not so much." Vanessa replied as she opened the car door to get out.

"One more thing." Seth said as she stood outside of the car. "If you're going to get changed before you go, you might want to close your curtains. We can see in from Roman's room." He said with a cocky smile.

"Seth Rollins you are such a pig!" She yelled then slammed the door.

Roman opened his front door hearing the yelling from outside. He saw Vanessa storming across his yard t get to her front door. Then Seth laughing as he got out of his car.

"Man, what the hell did you do?" Roman asked sounding disappointed.

"I did her a favor."

Vanessa got a quick shower and packed an overnight bag. She asked her mom if she could borrow her car to drive over to Carmella's. When she got there Maryse and Zelina were already there, and she saw that they had invited Becky.

"So is there going to actually be studying going on tonight?" Vanessa asked as she entered her bedroom.

"Probably not." Carmella replied as she closed the door.

About half an hour later, the girls were gathered on the floor in their pajamas, their hair thrown up, with some pizza on the bed. They were laughing at a story that Maryse was telling. Vanessa reached into her bag and grabbed her phone.

"Guys, huddle together. I want to send a picture to Randy."

They all gathered around smiling or making a funny face. She took a picture and sent it to him along with a message saying 'Don't you miss this?'

"Sp, who's Randy?" Becky asked flirtatiously.

"My brother." Vanessa replied. "He started college this year."

"Ah."

"And he;s dreamy."

"Maryse, ew."

Maryse pulled out her phone and started scrolling through one of her social media pages. "Here, this is him."

"Oh yeah he's cute."

"I mean, he's good looking but he's not my type." Carmella added. "Did he answer you?"

"Yes. He said 'absolutely not"." Vanessa replied with a laugh.

"So who is your type?" Maryse asked.

"Tall dark and handsome." She replied vaguely.

"And funny." Vanessa added.

"Shut up." Maryse said throwing a piece of crumpled clothing at her friend.

"Oh, so you have someone specific in mind. Spill!" Zelina said leaning in.

"No."

"Come on."

"Fine, I will. If you tell us what's really going on with you and Aleister." Carmella suggested.

"We just really enjoy each other's company. We have a lot in common. We like to go to the same places and do the same things." Zelina explained.

"Uh huh. And have you ever slept together while "enjoying each other's company"?"

"Maybe once or twice." Zelina answered quickly.

"I knew it!" Maryse exclaimed.

"Now spill!"

"She likes Langston."

"Nessa!"

"No way, really?" Maryse asked.

"I actually think you two would be really cute together." Zelina commented.

"I swear if you say anything I will cut you." Carmella threatened.

"What about you Becky? Anyone you've become interested in while here?"

"Nah not really. I mean I spent the night with Seth on Halloween. And I've flirted with Daniel but that's really it. No serious feelings."

"I'm sorry, but I have to ask. How was Seth? That dude is an egotistical jerk with a big mouth. Is he just all talk?" Maryse asked.

Becky smiled shyly. "No, he was very good. Very assertive and dominant. Almost primal in some ways. It was a nice change."

"Guys aren't like that in Ireland?" Zelina asked.

"Not the ones that I know." She answered. "Like take Finn for example. He's so sweet and so much of a gentleman. It's probably all slow and romantic. And Shaemus, he's just a party animal. I don't think he even remembers it most times afterwards so how good can that be? It has to just be a sloppy mess!"

Studying for midterms did not happen that night. But plenty of laughing and snack eating did. Which left everyone stressing and cramming before Thanksgiving. The only good thing about it was Randy was coming home for the first time since leaving.

They had just gotten back from Thanksgiving dinner at their aunt's house. Randy and Vanessa went upstairs to change into more comfortable clothes. They had both eaten so much they felt bloated and sluggish. Vanessa had just put her sweatshirt on where there was a knock at her door.

"Come in."

Randy opened the door and stood in the doorway. "Hey. You're not going to bed already are you?"

"Thought about it. I ate way too much turkey." Vanessa replied.

"Alright then." He said as he walked into her room.  
Randy what are you doing? Get out of my bed." She said as he plopped down.

"You said you were going to bed."

"You're not sleeping in my bed Randy. That's weird."

"Fine." He said as he sat up. "You wanna go downstairs and watch tv?"

"Sure."

He got up off of the bed and left her room. She grabbed her blanket off the top of her bed and followed him downstairs.

"So who was that red head in the picture you sent me a few days ago?" Randy asked as they walked downstairs.

"That was Becky. She's an exchange student."

"From where?"

"Ireland."

"So the only friend you managed to find lives halfway around the world? She has the right idea. She can get far away from you."

"When do you leave again?" Vanessa asked as she sat on the couch.

Randy just laughed. "Speaking of friends, how are things going with you and Alexa. I see you're still alive. Is she?"

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "Being a bitch like always. She has Mickie trying to hit on Elias and be all over him to try and bother me. I guess she's too good for him so she has to have her friend do it."

"Who's Elias?" Randy cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh, he's my ex boyfriend." She replied timidly while looking up at him as he sat next to her.

"Since when?"

"Like a month ago."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"You didn't ask?" She tried. "Randy, I'm seventeen. It's not like I haven't dated before."

"Yeah, but before I was around to meet and threaten them." He stated as he put his arm around her.

"Which is why I didn't tell you."

When it came to dating, they were very different. Vanessa only had a handful of boyfriends in her past. And usually it was with someone she had feelings for prior to dating. Randy however was out almost every weekend and the longest relationship he had with the same person was a little over a month. Which is maybe why he was so protective over her.

"So how's college life?"

"It's pretty good. My roommate and I get alone. I've met some cool people. The amount of freedom is amazing. But I do miss mom's cooking."

Vanessa laughed. "I bet. The closest thing you come to cooking is making a sandwich."

"Thank God for easy mac!"

Their conversation slowly started to taper off as they grew tired. They ended up falling asleep on the couch with Vanessa's blanket wrapped around them.


	6. Chapter 6

After Thanksgiving no one was really motivated to do anything. It as always cold and winter break was right around the corner. Everyone was counting down the days for a full week off from school. The only downside to it meant that the exchange students would be going back home. They only stayed for a few months and were sent back home right before the holidays so they could be with their families.

"I just want to thank you all for including me in things and for making this trip awesome. I'm really glad I ended up coming." Becky told her new group of girlfriends on her last day there.

"We;re gonna miss ya Becks." Carmella said giving he a hug.

"If you're ever coming to my part of the world, make sure to look me up."

"Don't worry. We'll stay in touch."

"Who announces a paper the day before winter break?" Xavier asked annoyed as he sat down at the lunch table.

"When's it due?" Zelina asked.

"The day we come back."

"Ooh, that's rough. What's it on?"

"We all drew different Shakespeare plays from a hat."

"Maybe I could help. I'm pretty familiar with a lot of his work. I could help you out with it and get it done pretty quick." Aleister offered.

"I wish, but I can't. McIntyre paired everybody off and made it a partner paper. Different viewpoints and shit." Xavier explained.

"Who'd you get?" Carmella asked.

"AJ."

"That's not too bad. He's pretty cool."

"No, but it's a pain that now we have to match up our schedules over break to get together to write this damn thing. What if people were going away to see family or on vacation?"

"I guess he'd made the excuse that's what the internet and cell phones are for nowadays." Zelina commented.

"He may be nice looking but he sounds tough. I'm almost glad I didn't get him now." Maryse added.

"Who did Vanessa get paired with?" Carmella asked.

"It's probably best to not bring that up." Xavier advised.

"Why not?"

"I don't think it'll go over well."

"What, she get stuck with a dumb jock who won't pull his own weight?"

"Worse."

"I'm dropping out of school." Vanessa announced as she sat down at the lunch table as well.

"Why?"

"Because it's a better option than going to jail for murder." She answered.

"You could be stuck doing Romeo and Juliet with a guy." Xavier pointed out.

"Seth fucking Rollins. Anything is better than that!"

"Well everyone save any Christmas money you might get. We're gonna need it for bail money because I know there's no way her mom is gonna let her drop out." Carmella told everyone.

Vanessa sighed. "Maybe Roman will let us work on it at his place. That way we can be in neutral territory."

"How is Roman's house neutral?" Kofi asked.

"They used to be friends growing up." Carmella answered.

"How'd that end up happening?"

"We live next door to each other. We used to study together when we were younger." Vanessa said.

Randy had come back home for Christmas. It was a nice two days filled with family and food and good times. Vanessa got a huge gift from her parents in the form of a car they had leased now that she had her license. They had done the same for Randy when he first got his. Vanessa was settled into her bed getting ready to fall asleep on Christmas night when her phone rang. It was a number she didn't recognize.

"Hello?"She answered.

"Hey sexy." A familiar voice replied.

"What do you want?"

"Do you know how many girls would love to be getting this phone call right now?"

"So go call one of them."

"I can't. We have this stupid paper to do so I have to call you. When are we doing this thing?" Seth asked.

"As soon as possible. Can you do it tomorrow so we can get it out of the way?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. My brother is leaving around 10:00 tomorrow. So after I say goodbye to him I'm good after that. So we can get together at 10:30. Does that work?"

"Yeah that works. Your place or mine?"

"The library." Vanessa answered adamantly.

"You're no fun."

"I'll see you there. Also after this assignment feel free to lose my number."

She hung up the phone and laid down to try and sleep.

Drive safe okay?" Vanessa said as she hugged her Randy the next morning.

"I will."

"Did you say goodbye to mom and dad?"

"I did last night before they went to bed. I didn't want to get up that early to do it this morning. But don't worry, I'll be back before you know it."

Once Randy left Vanessa went up to her room to get changed and gather what she would have needed. She decided to just be comfortable and warm so she had on leggings and a sweater dress. She then grabbed her bag, and went out to her new car to get to the library. Unfortunately, Roman was away with family so they weren't able to meet at his place, but at least she got Seth to meet at another neutral location. Just as she was about to turn out of her neighborhood, she saw Seth out jogging. She pulled her car up next to him and rolled her window down.

"Excuse me? Are you forgetting something?" She asked.

"No, I didn't forget." He said as he stood outside of the car. "I'm going to finish up my workout and shower and I'll be there."

She looked over at the clock in her car. "We're supposed to meet in five minutes How much longer were you going to be?"

"About another twenty minutes or so on the workout, so roughly forty five minutes I guess."

"So you're just going to show up an hour late without even letting me know? I put time aside today to get this done Seth."

"And it'll get done."

"When? Whenever the hell you feel like getting around to it? What am I supposed to be do be doing, just waiting for you to show up?"

"I figured you'd work on it until I got there. Then I'd jump in." He said nonchalantly.

"Seriously? Do you even know what points you want to make for your half of this?"

"Not exactly. I still have to figure out what it's about I guess."

"What do you mean what it's about. Did you even read the play yet?" Vanessa seemed to be getting angrier with every answer he was giving.

"Not the whole thing."

"Unbelievable. So you were just expecting me to do all the work, you throw in a thought or two here and there based on whatever you happen to google, then just throw your name on it?"

He shrugged. "Mostly yeah. It's worked in the past."

"That's not how it's gonna work this time. Get in." Vanessa demanded.

"Are you crazy? Like this? I need a shower and to get changed." Seth argued.

"You need a shower first?" Vanessa asked. She grabbed a water bottle out of her cup holder, opened it, and poured it all over him. "There's your shower."

The threw the empty water bottle at him then turned the car around and sped back to her house. She parked her car out front, grabbed her back, and walked back into her house. She threw the bag on the floor by the door. She was furious at the nerve of him. He may have been able to push people around before, but not this time. A few moments later there was a knock at her front door. She honestly didn't think that Seth would have the courage to come to her house after what had just occurred, but when she opened the door she saw him standing there. His hair dripping from the water that was just poured on him. His eyes narrowed.

"What do you want?" Vanessa asked annoyed.

Seth didn't actually answer her. He just walked passed her into the house. He took a few steps into the hallway looking around. Maybe this was a good thing. Maybe what Vanessa said actually got through to him and he realized how much of a jerk he had been and was ready to get this project done.

"Well come on in." She said sarcastically as she closed the door.

"Your parents at work?" He asked.

"Yeah? Why?"

Seth turned around again to face her. "Good."

In one swift movement he pushed her up against the wall and his lips were on hers. Shock was an understatement. It took a moment for Vanessa to register what was happening. And when she did, she had no idea why it was happening. She knew she should be pushing him away from her, telling him to stop, threatening to call the police, but she wasn't. And she wasn't sure why she wasn't She was just letting him. His hands were on either side of her hips as her back was still against the wall. He pulled her hips forward bringing her lower body closer to his. She gasped out in surprise and he took advantage of that by plunging his tongue inside her mouth deepening the kiss. She found herself kissing him back and wrapping her arms around the back of his neck. They were lost like that until they heard a car door slam from a close distance, as if it was out in the driveway. They both pulled apart and their heads snapped towards the front door.

"I thought you said your parents were at work." Seth whispered.

"They're supposed to be." Vanessa retorted finally pushing Seth away. "Go hide...over there. In the dining room."

Seth had made it into the living room just in time as the front door opened.

"Randy, what are you doing here?" Vanessa asked surprised.

"Told you I'd be back before you knew it." He replied with a smile. "I'm actually here until New Years. Surprise! I just went out to get some gas."

"Do mom and dad know?"

"No. I thought I'd surprise them when they get home. What are you doing now?"

"Nothing." She answered quickly.

"Come on then. Let's go get something to eat and spend some time just you and me."

Randy walked back outside to his car. Vanessa glanced over towards the dining room before following him out grabbing her bag on the way.


	7. Chapter 7

"So how's everything been going?" Randy asked as they were sitting across from each other at a restaurant?

"Mostly good. Weird stuff keeps happening at school though." Vanessa replied as she ate.

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"One day all the erasers for the white boards were gone. Then everyone keeps finding water bottles in the most random places. Another time all the soap dispensers were filled with glue."

"Hm, senior pranks maybe?" Randy suggested.

"I don't think so. None of us or anyone we know seems to know anything about it."

"Weird. Nothing like that happened when I was there. So do you have any plans for the next few days?"

"I, uh, I have a paper I have to work on actually." Vanessa replied, trying to sound as normal as possible.

"Really?"

"Yeah. My. McIntyre assigned it before we left. It's due when we get back."

"That's stupid." Randy stated.

"It gets worse. It's a group paper."

"That's more stupid."

After they got back home Vanessa told Randy that she had to go and meet up with the people she had to work on the paper with. She said she would see him later. She got into her car and drove a few streets over to where Seth's hose was. She nervously knocked on the door. A man dressed in a nice suit holding a briefcase answered the door.

"Hello Mr. Rollins. Is Seth home? We have an assignment we're supposed to work on together." She asked hoping her voice didn't crack.

"Sure, come on in. Seth!" He called out as he stepped aside. "I've got to run out to work. He should be up in a minute."

Vanessa was left alone in the entry way for a few moments before Seth slowly walked in. He was dressed very differently than earlier. He was in jeans and a tight fitting black t-shirt. His hair was neatly tied back in a small bun at the back of his neck.

"What brings you here?" He asked.

"We need to talk." Vanessa answered.

"Okay. Follow me."

Seth walked through his house without another word. She followed him silently. He opened a door to what appeared to be a basement and began walking down the stairs. Vanessa gulped and followed him nervously. Not that she thought he was a killer or anything, but she had seen enough news stories to know that going into a man's basement may not be the best idea. She was surprised at what she saw when she reached the basement. It would have been the dream for any guy. The basement was finished. Part of it had a large bed and a dresser. Another part had a leather couch, a giant television, just about any video game system you could imagine, a pool table, and a mini fridge. She knew he always had an ego and enjoyed making others miserable, but she just assumed it was because he was compensating for what he didn't have. But this was clearly a kid who had everything. Apparently she was wrong for why she thought he hung around Roman.

"Seth, is this your room?"

"Yup." He answered.

"You have everything down here."

"Almost. There's a half bath down here but I still have to go upstairs to shower."

"Oh, you actually have to leave your man cave for something. Poor baby."

He chuckled. "You know you have a lot of balls coming into my house and making fun of me."

"I guess you just bring out the worst in me"

"Did you come here for something?" Seth asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Vanessa's demeanor changed. She became nervous again. "Yes. I wanted to talk to you, or ask you about earlier."

"What about it?"

"Really Seth?" She asked becoming frustrated again. "You show up at my house after being an ass, kiss me out of nowhere and I'm just supposed to think that's normal?"

"I didn't hear you complaining."

"Well, I didn't get much of a chance." She stammered.

"Uh huh."

"That's not the point." She said quickly. "The point is why."

"Why?" Seth walked over to her and stood in front of her. "Because you don't bend over backwards like everyone else does. You don't give in because you're scared of me. You don't do everything I say because you're trying to hook up with me. You grew a backbone and stood up to me. I like that."

He leaned in and kissed her again, but this time pushed him away from her.

"Seth this is not why I came here." She said.

"So you thought coming to my house and being alone after what happened earlier nothing would happen?"

"I didn't know we'd be alone." Vanessa said sheepishly as she lowered her head unable to look at him.

He put his finger under her chin pushing her head back up."Well we are. And this time we're not getting interrupted."

He put his arm around her waist pulling her closer to him and kissed her deeply. He surprised her by picking her up, and she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist. He carried her across the basement. He laid her down on his bed and crawled on top of her kissing her again. He slowly moved his kisses over to her neck.

"You know I'm not the only one to argue with you." She pointed out. "I know Carmella says things to you all the time."

Seth briefly stopped and looked at her. "Yeah, but she's just being a bitch. Plus she's not really my type."

"You hit on her all the time."

"Yeah, she's an easy target. She's a cheerleader, one who is clearly not interested so I just mess with her. But she's not the one I think about."

"You, you've thought about me?"

He smiled slyly and nuzzled his nose into the crook of her neck. "Hmm hmm. When I'm here by myself, late at night. And when you stood up to me today I couldn't hold it in anymore."

He went back to kissing her and she wrapped her arms around him again. Vanessa didn't understand what was going on in her own head. She hadn't really stopped to think about it. Seth was a jerk. He always had been since the day they met. She had always hated him. But she was loving how his hands were roaming all over her body. She couldn't stop herself from giving in to him. He was running his hands on her legs and when he touched the inside of her thigh, something made her snap back to reality. She put her hands on his chest and pushed him up slightly.

"Seth, I'm a virgin." She blurted out.

"What?" He asked as he leaned up a bit.

"I've never been with anyone before."

"No one?"

"Well Elias and I tried some things once or twice, but that's about it."

"Really? I would've thought with how your brother is…"

"Being a slut isn't genetic Seth."

"Well I didn't know. So how far have you with him?"

"Just touching really. We tried oral once but I didn't really like it…" She admitted.

"Did he ever make you cum?"

"No, but maybe it's just not my thing."

"Bullshit. Either he didn't know what he was doing or he didn't care."

"That's not…"

She might have said that's not true or that's not fair, but he'll never know since he cut her words off with another kiss. He ran his hand up her leg straight to the waistband of her leggings and slipped it inside. He had previously positioned himself so he was resting between her legs, so they were already spread apart enough for him to get the access he needed. He ran his fingers along her slowly, making sure to touch her everywhere. She gasped in surprise at his touch causing the kiss to break. He smiled when he felt how wet she was. She would never tell him that she was enjoying him, but that told him all he needed. He started placing soft kisses along her neck while touching her wherever he seemed to get a good reaction. She started making small whimpers of pleasure. Seth could feel her getting wetter the longer he touched her. When he thought she was ready he inserted two fingers inside of her. That caused her to yelp and arch up slightly.

"Are you okay?" He whispered.

"Yeah." She moaned out.

Seth went back to kissing her neck while he started moving his fingers in and out slowly. Little moans started to leave her body. Then they started to get louder.

"You like that?" He asked in her ear, but it seemed to be an actual question rather than a condescending remark.

"Yes."

"Do you want me to go faster? Slower? Keep it like this?"

"Faster please."

He eagerly obliged as he sped his pace up. Vanessa had never felt anything like this before and wasn't able to keep the sounds quite anymore. But she did recognize the feeling she was getting in the pit of her stomach. It was the same one that she got when she was by herself. Seth could tell that she was tensing up and digging her fingers harder into his back. He curled his fingers inside of her and her nails dug into him. She cried out with the most powerful orgasm she's ever experienced.

Vanessa was trying to catch her breath and come down off of the high from what she just experienced. She was oblivious to anything else that was going on around her. She hadn't even realized that Seth had quickly removed the clothes she was wearing from the waist down until she felt his hand on her thigh and realized there was no fabric between her skin and his.

"Seth, what are you...oh my God."

He pushed up the bottom of her sweater dress and dipped his head down and ran his tongue along like he did with his fingers. He gently pushed apart her thighs allowing him to explore all of her. By this point her clit was almost throbbing, being so sensitive and just wanting to be touched, He circled his tongue around slowly flicking it every once in awhile before speeding up the pace. Soon when he slid his tongue over her clit it was with more force. She couldn't help herself from moaning his name. After hearing his name coming from her, he put every effort he had in attacking her clit in the most gentle way he could. With almost no warning she came a second time yelling out. She once again found herself trying to catch her breath as he crawled back up the bed so his face was near hers.

"That's how a real man takes care of his girl." He told her.

He was trying to make a point, and he made it. But Vanessa became very aware of the fact that she was laying in Seth's bed half naked. It worried her about what was about to happen next. She sat up in his bed a little bit.  
'Seth, I…"

He leaned in and gently kissed her lips then pulled away slowly. "I hate to be rude, but you did come over here unannounced. So if you'll excuse me, I have to get in the shower and have a few new things I have to think about." He said with a sly smile.

He got off the bed and reached over to take her had. He helped her stand up off the bed.

"But what about…"

"Don't worry. I'll read the play tonight."

That wasn't where Vanessa was going with that conversation. She actually forgot all about that. So she decided to just go with it to avoid looking was going to put her clothes back on, but since she was still wearing them at first, they were slightly damp and gross. So she just shoved them into her bag and put her shoes back on. She was thankful that her dress was long enough to cover her. They were both silent as they walked back up the stairs and towards the front door.

"I'll call you when I finish reading." Seth said as he opened the front door for her.

"Okay."

"You're back early." Randy commented when Vanessa walked through the front door. "Weren't you wearing more clothes earlier?"

"Oh, yeah, I spilled coffee on them. So I'm going to go jump in the shower real quick." Vanessa replied startled. She forgot that Randy had come home.

She ran up the stairs and right into the bathroom closing the door. She didn't know what she should be thinking right now, and she wished she had someone to talk to about it. But she knew if she talked with Randy about it, he would just drive over there and kill Seth. If she talked with Carmella she would start out by screaming then follow up by never letting her live it down. She stood in the shower and tried to think everything through for herself. She didn't know where the chemistry between her and Seth came from. It had never been there before, at least for her. But for some reason, she just couldn't deny it. She also thought back to what Becky said about him being primal and aggressive but he was the opposite with her. He was gentle, and caring about her needs. He didn't even end up getting anything in return, and that was by his choosing. By the end of her shower she was more confused than when she walked into the door.

She managed to get through the rest of the night with Randy and her parents and try to act normal. She even eventually was able to stop thinking about it and get some sleep. But that was interrupted when her phone went off at three in the morning.

"What the hell?" She mumbled as she grabbed the phone off of her nightstand.

It was a text message from Seth.

'What is up with this Shakespeare guy? This is messed up.'

'Welcome to what everyone else already knew.'

'Why do people read this?'

'Seth, it's 3:04 in the morning. Can we discuss this later?'

'You can come over and we can discuss it now.'

"Nice try. Library tomorrow."


	8. Chapter 8

Winter break had ended and school started up again. They wouldn't get another break until spring which seemed like it was forever away. But prom was also around that time which was giving something else for seniors to look forward to. Teachers were now trying to drill college application submissions into their heads. Suddenly it was as if everything important school wise was happening at once.

"Did you take the SATs yet?" Carmella asked as they were hanging around after school one day.

"Yeah I took them over the summer." Vanessa answered.

"Have you guys applied anywhere yet?" Zelina asked.

"I've applied to a few places." Vanessa said

Carmella sighed. "Not really. I really need to get on that. What about you?"

"I applied to a really good art school in New York. If I don't get in I'll probably just go to community college for a few years then try and transfer in later." Zelina said.

Alexa walked over to the three.

"Just so you know, I only drink diet. So don't even bother offering me anything else. And I can taste the difference. If you bring me anything else I'll know." She informed them with an attitude.

The girls looked at each other confused.

"Um, okay?" Zelina stated.

"Why are you telling us?" Carmella asked annoyed.

"I figured after graduation you'd end up working at Applebee's or something so I thought I'd just give you a heads up." Alexa said with a fake smile. "What's wrong? Was that aiming too high? Remembering which food goes to who can be a task. Should I tell you how I like my groceries bagged instead?"

"Girl you better get outta here." Carmella said stepping forward.

Zelina put her arm across her to stop her.

"Come on Mella. She's not worth it." Vanessa said.

"Yeah, you don't want to break a perfectly good nail on her face."

Carmella, Zelina, and Vanessa turned to walk away. They ignored everything that was said by Alexa after that and just kept walking. They left the school and went out into the parking lot.

"So how bad do you think Randy would shit himself if I told him we all applied and got in to where he was?" Vanessa asked with a laugh.

"Oh my God we can tell him we're all joining him next year!" Carmella added excitedly.

"First we need to get you actually applied somewhere."

They had all tried their best to stay on top of their applications, making sure they all got in somewhere. Vanessa went out to get the mail after getting home from school one day. She found a pretty large envelope from one of the higher up schools on her list.

"Hey Vanessa." Roman said as he got out of his car from just getting home.

"Hey Roman." She replied while looking at it.

"What's up?"

"I just got into the school I applied to in Boston." She said with a smile as she held the envelope.

"Congratulations!" He said with a smile as well.

"Anything for you?"

"I haven't heard back from anywhere yet." Roman shrugged.

"I'm sure you will soon. It seems like they're really starting to come in for everyone now." She said as she saw Carmella turned onto her street.

Carmella parked her car in front of Vanessa's house then got out.

"Ness, why did, Oh hi Roman. Why did Randy just call me freaking out? Is everything okay?" She asked.

"Oh, I told him we'd all be going to school together again because we all got accepted into his university. He wasn't too happy."

Carmella laughed. "Did you actually get in?"

"I didn't even apply!"

Roman was still standing in his driveway chuckling to himself listening to their conversation when his phone started to ring.

"Hey man what's up...Really? All of us or just Seth? Okay, that sounds like it could be pretty cool. What time tonight? Alright I'll meet you at his place around six. We'll all drive together. See you then Dean."

"Going to a party tonight?" Carmella asked, overhearing his conversation as well.

"Probably not one you're interested in going to." He replied.

"What makes you think that?" She asked as she put her hands on her hips.

"Alexa is having a few people over her dad's lake house tonight. Bon fire and all that stuff. It's going to be her, Mickie, Sasha, Seth, Dean, and me."

"You're right. Not interested."

"So she's all buddy buddy with you now?" Vanessa asked.

"Well she tried to invite Seth, but he kind of talked her into inviting us and her inviting her friends and kind of making a party out of it."

"So you weasled your way on in huh?" Carmella asked.

"No, he weasled us in. But lake house party, I can't resist that!" He exclaimed then started walking into his house.

"Wanna go crash it?" Carmella asked Vanessa.

"Nah. An hour long drive just to be outnumbered isn't worth it. Besides, I have some things I have to take care of tonight." Vanessa answered..

"Yeah I guess you're right. I'll see you later then. Kofi told me that they were filming some prank on Langston today for their youtube channel, so I'll go over there with them and watch that. Should be pretty entertaining."

Vanessa laughed. "I can't wait until they post that."

"I'll let you know how it goes."

Carmella got back into her car. Vanessa waved to her as she drove away. She went back into her house to put her mail inside and grab her car keys then went out to her car. She knew she shouldn't be, she didn't really even know why she was, but she was on her way to Seth's house. They hadn't spent any time together since they worked on their project. They would see each other in school and there would be awkward glances shared between them in the hallway. She didn't know if he had been with anyone since her, she hadn't really thought about it, but the thought of him going to hang out with Alexa made her blood boil. She wasn't sure what she was feeling, but she knew she felt something.

She pulled up the park in front of the house next door. The nervously knock again, but this time his other answered the door. She seemed like a nice sweet woman. She let Vanessa in and told Set that he was in the shower. She was just getting ready to go out to the food store but if she wanted to she could wait for Seth there. She thanks his mom and said that she would wait if that was okay.

When his mom left, Vanessa went down to the basement and sat down on the couch to wait for him. She looked around his rom again at everything that was around there. She didn't actually have a plan when she decided to drive to his house. And now she only had a few minutes to figure it out. She soon heard the basement door open, then shut, followed by footsteps on the stairs. Seth walked through the basement with a towel tied around his waist while drying his hair with another towel. She sat still on the couch and he just walked right by her. He wasn't expecting anyone so he was lost in his own little world,

"Hey Seth."

He jumped when he heard her. "Jesus. What the hell are you doing here?"

"Your mom let me in." She said as she stood up.

"Why?"

"Because I asked her if you were home."

"I meant why are you here?"

"I overheard you were going to a party tonight." She told him as she walked over to him.

"Oh, is that so. So what brings you here? Jealousy?" He asked as he continued to dry his hair.

"I was just curious. You never seemed to hang out before. And I heard that Roman and Dean weren't supposed to be invited, but you made it happen."

"Because I was invited. And it should be a good time. She said someone would bring beer. And the more the merrier. Even more girls that will be out there alone by the woods and the lake scared needing big strong men to protect them."

"So this is all about getting laid."

"Well if it comes up." He said raising his eyebrows up and down.

"You're disgusting. Although I guess that's fitting seeing as what you're sinking yourself down to."

"Maybe that's what I like." He said as he stopped drying his hair, letting it hang down damp over his shoulders and crossing his arms over his chest.

"Nope. No way that whore is your type." Vanessa argued.

"How would you know my type?"

Vanessa started to second guess why she was there. Maybe that was his type. Maybe he just tried to hook up with as many people as he could, and maybe that day he just took pity on her because of what she said about her and Elias. Maybe she was reading into things that weren't there. And her feelings were coming from something that wasn't even real.

"You know what, you're right. I know as much about you as you know about me. Which obviously isn't all that much. Enjoy your night Seth."

Vanessa decided to quit while she was ahead before making a complete fool out of herself and leave. She turned around to walk away and she heard him chuckle behind her.

"I know enough about you to know that you and Alexa can't stand each other."

"Pretty sure everyone knows that." She said over her shoulder.

"And I know that you two are insanely jealous of each other."

"I am not jealous of some insecure little skank who is trying to screw her way through school." Vanessa said angrily.

"You sure about that? If that's true then how did I also know you'd end up back here once you got wind of me hanging out with her?"

"Is this some kind of joke to you? Some game to pit us against each other even more?"

"She's the one who invited me, remember?"

"And you said yes."

"Maybe I wanted to get something out of it Like you said, she's good for it."

"Are you even going to be able to enjoy it though Seth? Or are you going to be thinking about me the whole time you're with her?" Vanessa asked in a cocky tone that she had never used before. As she spoke she slowly took steps closer to him, backing him up until his back hit the wall. "I bet you'll be thinking about when we were alone in your room. Us laying down on your bed. You making me wet and moan your name. The feeling of my nails scratching down your back."

Seth just stood there with a small smile playing on his lips looking down at her as he spoke,still not dropping his cocky attitude.

"You're not denying it."

"Not admitting to it either." He retorted.

"Oh no?" Vanessa had noticed a bulge that was growing under his towel. She quickly grabbed it and gave it a squeeze causing him to let out a hiss. "This speaks for itself."

"So what if it does? Tonight I'm going to get it taken care of."

"Wrong."

Before Seth even had time to process what was happening Vanessa ripped the towel off of is waist, dropped to her knees, and took as much of him in her mouth as she could.

"Shit." Seth blurted out as his head fell back against the wall. He definitely wasn't expecting her to do that.

Vanessa started to slowly move, trying to take more of him in her mouth. She had never done this before, so she tried to take his cues by how he reacted. She ran her hand up his thigh and rested it on his hip as she was looking up at him and caught his eyes.

"Fuck." He murmured as he closed his eyes and rested his head back again..

After a few moments of him enjoying himself, Vanessa pulled away. This made Seth snap his eyes open and look down at her. She was still resting on her knees smiling up at him. She leaned in and licked him slowly along his length before she spoke.

"Well if you have to get ready to go out, I don't want to keep you so I'll get going."

She slowly started to lean back but he reached out and grabbed her gently by the hair.

"You get back here."

That was exactly what she wanted to hear. She leaned back in swirling her tongue around the head of his cock, which was clearly something he enjoyed based on the sounds he was making. She leaned in more and wrapped her mouth around him. He was gently running his fingers tangling them in her hair at the warm sensation of her mouth surrounding him. She started moving quicker, having her tongue glide against him when she could.

"Fuck baby, just like that." He encouraged.

His groaning got deeper and she could feel him tighten the grip on the hair. She had a feeling that he was getting close to finishing. They both heard the front door open, but assuming it was just his mom coming back from the store they ignored it. At least they did until they heard Dean's voice call out.

"Seth!"

"Shit." Seth exclaimed as he snapped out of the fog he was in.

Vanessa looked behind her towards the stairs, then back at Seth nervously.

"What do we do?" She whispered.

"Hide back there." He pointed to the space between his bed and the wall. He had a nightstand at the top leaving roughly a foot of space. "Stay low and stay quiet."

He grabbed the towel from the floor and put it back around his waist. He jumped onto his bed and grabbed the towel he was using for his hair and held it on his lap just as Roman and Dean were coming down the steps.

"Seth, come on man. Get dressed, we gotta get going." Dean said to him after seeing him lay in bed.

"I don't know if I can make it." He told them.

"Why not?" Dean asked, sounding upset.

"I had an accident in the shower. I slipped and twisted my ankle pretty bad. I've been waiting for it to feel better, but it's still hurting pretty bad. I'm not going to be able to hike around the woods."

"Do you need us to get you anything?" Roman asked.

"No. My mom's at the store. I texted her and asked her to bring me some stuff."

"Well what do we do now?" Dean asked.

"You two still go and have fun. I'll catch up next time." Seth told them.

"Are you sure man? It's gonna be a good time. We can carry you if we need to." Dean offered as Roman shook his head.

Seth chuckled. "Nah, it's fine. If you play it up real good maybe I can make them feel sorry for me. I can use that later."

"Good plan." Dean noted pointing at him.

"Are you sure?" Roman asked.

Seth nodded.

"Alright then Ro, lets go. You're driving." Dean stated as he began to walk back towards the steps.

"If you drink too much and throw up in my car I will leave you out there." Roman threatened as he followed Dean out.

Vanessa stayed hidden until they heard the front door shut and a car outside start and drive off. She climbed out of the space she was in an sat onto the bed with Seth.

"Well that was close." She said with a laugh.

"Tell me about it." Seth said as he ran his hand through his hair.

"So, you're not going?"

"I'm enjoying myself here more than I would there." He answered with a smile.

"Oh well, the moment is ruined, so I'm gonna get going." Vanessa said as she tried to climb over top of him.

"Nope. I cancelled my plans for you." He said as he wrapped his arms around her waist not allowing her to leave.

"Did you really?" She questioned.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He said with a straight face.

"Really? Because earlier you said something about knowing I'd show up when I got wind of this."

"Yeah but I didn't think it'd be this soon. I thought once we got back to school and word got around you'd show up one night." He admitted still having his arms wrapped around her.

"So what, you'd just go and do whatever and expect me to fall for you after being with her?"

"There is a reason I talked her into bringing her friends and letting me bring mine. Making sure Dean told people. So that we wouldn't be alone." He told her with a smile.

Vanessa couldn't help but smile. Something in him, for some reason, actually seemed to care. She was lost in thought looking into his eyes when he leaned up capturing her lips again in a passionate kiss. She reached her hand inside the towel around his waist and grabbed him, stroking him quickly. He was so close before they interrupted, she didn't think it would take too long. She also thought she'd skip the foreplay this time.

"Fuck yes." He hissed as he grip became tighter.

"You like that Seth?" She asked in a raspy voice. He answered her with a groan. "You like my hand wrapped around our cock? You like me touching you? Why don't you show me how much you like it and cum for me."

That was all it took for him. He came hard with a loud groan. Vanessa looked down at him smiling.

"Do me a favor, stay away from Lexi." She said nicely.

She leaned in and kissed him on the forehead before getting up off of the bed.

"And be sure to stay off that ankle for a while. You don't want to do further damage." She said with a wink. She then left him there and walked across his room towards the stairs.


	9. Chapter 9

Carmella, Vanessa, and Zelina were talking through the mall one Saturday morning looking in the different stores dress shopping.

"So you got Aleister to agree to prom?" Vanessa asked.

"It surprisingly wasn't as hard as I expected. I think he knew that it was important to me to go so he said he would be there with e." Zelina said as she was looking through a section of red dresses.

"He actually is really sweet isn't he?" Carmella asked.

"He is, if anyone took the time to get to know him. Not that he wants them to. He doesn't want anything to ruin his dark and brooding image." Zelina laughed.

"Are you going with anyone?" Carmella asked Vanessa.

"I'm going to go with you guys and just have fun hanging out with everyone. There is someone I've kind of been talking with, but we haven't discussed it or anything. We're not exactly a couple. So I'm just going to do what Xavier's doing, fly solo and enjoy my time with everyone."

"Hold up, you've been talking to someone?" Carmella asked.

"Just someone in one of my classes. But nothing serious. After school ends and we go separate ways we probably won't see each other anyway." She said sounding kind of upset.

"Is it Elias? Are you getting back with Elias?" Zelina asked, partially excited hoping she figured it out.

"No, that is done. He's a nice guy but he's just not for me." Vanessa answered as she was looking through some dresses.

"I got it. It's Roman." Carmella stated. "You two have been getting closer again."

"It's not Roman. Have you asked Langston yet?" Vanessa asked trying to get the conversation off of her.

"How am I supposed to do that? We've never dated or flirted or anything."

"I don't know, how about "Hey, do you wanna go to prom together?" It seems like that's what most people say." Vanessa told her.

"I'm going to try this one on." Carmella said about the dress she was holding and walked off towards the dressing room.

"She's ignoring you." Zelina stated.

"Because she knows I'm right."

"Do you think she will ask him?"

"She will. Or I'll ask him for her. And she knows I'll do it. So I'm not worried."

"Yup. I think this is it." Carmella stated as she came out of the dressing room. She was standing in an aqua blue form fitting dress.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the cheerleading captain supposed to be wearing a big poofy pink monstrosity like some sort of Disney princess?" Vanessa asked.

"Exactly. That's why this is perfect." Carmella smiled.

"It looks great." Zelina commented.

"It really does. Well now you got the dress, you just need the date."

"Shut up. I'll get mine when you tell me about yours." Carmella fired at her. "Did you find something Zelina?"

"Yeah, I'm going with this red one."

"The one with the slit all the way up the leg?"

"Yup."

"You go girl! Now we just need to get miss mysterious all set."

"I did have my eye on something for a bit."

"Well let me get out of this and you go get it!" Carmella said excitedly.

"I think since we all found our dresses in the same day at the same store we should celebrate." Zelina stated.

"Iced coffee and ice cream!" Carmella added.

They paid for their dresses and began making their way to the food court.

"So did you guys happen to realize that nothing weird has happened in the last few weeks?" Carmella asked as they were walking.

"What do you mean?" Vanessa asked.

"Nothing has gone missing. Nothing has popped up in strange places."

"Now that you mention it, you're right." Zelina agreed.

"Kind of makes you wonder, you think one of the exchange students were in on it?"

"That would make perfect sense!" Vanessa exclaimed.

"I bet it was Shaemus. You heard how Becky talked about him."

When they got to the food court they ran into Mike and Maryse who were there shopping for prom as well. Maryse insisted their outfits match. They were just finishing up their lunch when the girls walked over to them.

"So what did you end up with?"

"Classic white and black." Mike replied.

"Mike really wanted a white tux." Maryse said rolling her eyes.

"We're going to look awesome."

"Whatever you say. Oh did you guys hear about the meltdown Alexa had over the weekend?"

"What else is new?"

"Sasha called me yesterday…"

"Wait, why?"

"Because she's a two faced bitch. Anyway, apparently she got stood up by Seth Rollins of all people. She invited him to her dad's lake house. She convinced him that she should bring Mickie and Sasha and he'll bring Roman and Dean and hang out. Well Dean ended up opening his big mouth and a handful of other people showed up. Sasha was pissed because Roman refused to make out with her. Seth never even showed up. Alexa was pissed she got so wasted she ended up hooking up with Dean and she's beyond embarrassed about it."

Carmella and Zelina burst out laughing.

"Serves her right after what she's done to people." Vanessa stated.

"Seems like she finally hit rock bottom." Carmella added.

Later that night Vanessa and Roman saw each other in passing and talked. They continued talking and ended up laying down on the picnic table in his backyard. They had done it many summer and spring nights as kids. Watching lightning bugs. Eating snacks. Roman was right, he really hadn't changed much internally. He just looked like he were laughing and talking and Vanessa decided to take a picture. She posted it up on her social media as a throwback to their childhood.

"So are you going to prom?" Vanessa asked him.

"Yeah. I'm bringing this girl I've been seeing." Roman answered.

"You have a girlfriend?" Vanessa almost shouted as she sat up.

Roman chuckled. "Yeah. We met at church. We started going out for lunch after services, then spent more time together during the week."

"Oh my God it's like you're living a double life!" She joked as she looked down at the text message she just received.

'Really? You tell me to stay away from Alexa and you're alone with a guy in the middle of the night?'

Vanessa just rolled her eyes and put her phone down. There was a big difference between him being alone with Alexa and her being alone with Roman. Nothing had ever happened between them before. They had never said anything out of line to each other. It was just Roman. She put her phone back down on the picnic table missing the next text that came through.

'So you're just going to ignore me now?'

"So did you hear from anywhere yet?" She asked him.

"Yeah. I actually got a scholarship for schools in Texas and Arizona."

"That's awesome Roman! Congrats!"

"Thanks! Have you decided where you want to go yet?"

"I've been debating but I haven't been able to fully make up my mind yet."

"Hey!" They heard another voice call out as he entered the backyard.

Vanessa and Roman both sat up.

"Seth, what are you doing here?" Roman asked.

"I'm usually here. I think a better question would be what is she doing here so late?" Seth retorted.

"Its not what you're thinking man, trust me." Roman told him.

"We're just talking." Vanessa added.

"In the middle of the night? Alone?"

"Nothing is happening. He has a girlfriend."

"Come on, Roman doesn't have a girlfriend."

"Actually, I do. I was going to bring her around at prom and introduce you." Roman told him.

"Is that so. How long have you had one?" Seth asked still not sure if he was telling the truth.

"About two months."

"And you didn't tell me or Dean?" Seth asked sounding offended.

"It's not like you told me and Dean about whatever the hell is going on between you two." Roman pointed out.

Seth and Vanessa were both shocked. They just looked at each other.

"What do you mean?" Vanessa asked.

"I wondered why he stopped messing around with you and your friends all of the sudden. But then that night he was supposed to go to Alexa's but was "hurt" and couldn't go I figured it out." Roman explained.

"What did that have to do with me?" Vanessa asked.

"I saw your car parked out front. I see it here everyday, I know the plate number."

"Well I guess there's no use trying to lie about it now." Seth stated.

"And you didn't say anything to Dean?" Vanessa asked.

"It wasn't my business too. Besides I didn't know what was going on."

"Yeah neither did we." Seth added.

"Well this is awkward." Vanessa said.

"You're telling me. I've never seen you jealous over a girl before." Roman said with a chuckle.

"I'm not."

"You just broke into my backyard in the middle of the night and accused us of messing around." Roman reminded him.

"Okay, fair point. You know, I don't usually say this. But we probably need to talk."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"Well, I'm going to head inside now and go to bed. So you two can go take off and talk."


	10. Chapter 10

Vanessa had done her hair and make up and got dressed just in time for Carmella, E, Zelina, Aleister, Zavier, Kofi, and his girlfriend to swing by to pick her up. She had chosen a long dark purple strapless dress embellished with large crystals. Her hair was curled up.

"Can I just say how adorable you two look together." Vanessa said with a big smile as she went up to hug Carmella.

E had a big smile. "I have to say I was really surprised when she asked me. But definitely not disappointed." He said as he took her hand.

Carmella tried to hide a shy smile, which was unlike her.

They stood around taking a few fun pictures before they made their way to the they got there they met up with Maryse and Mike. The guys went off to the side to talk while the girls were taking pictures of themselves.

"Hey guys!" Bayley said as she came over to them. "You all look great! Did you want me to take a picture of all of you?"

"I got a better idea. Hey Aleister get over here!" Vanessa called.

He walked over and she handed him her phone.

"You jump in with us. Aleister, can you take a picture for us?"

"Aw thanks!"

The party was just getting started. People were still arriving. They saw Roman walk in with a beautiful girl they hadn't seen before.

"Whoa, where did she come from?" Maryse asked.

"I don't know. I never saw her. Think she's his cousin or something?" Carmella asked.

"Be nice. They met at church. He said she was really nice." Vanessa jumped in.

"So I guess he's not your mystery date then." Carmella mentioned.

"Nope."

"So did you guys hear about the valedictorian?" Zelina asked walking over and joining their conversation.

"Yeah. Charlotte. I feel bad for saying it but I can't help but wonder if her father had any pull in that."

"Oh not sure if you heard but Alexa crowned herself honorary prom queen."

"Of course she did."

"Speaking of Alexa, her boyfriend just walked in."

Dean had just walked into the room wearing jeans and a tuxedo t-shirt.

"I can't believe he actually came to this." Maryse stated.

"Hey babe, you wanna go dance?" Aleister asked Zelina as a slow song began to play.

"I'd love to." She smiled.

They both walked away onto the dance floor. Mike and Maryse did the same. Carmella walked over to her.

"Ness, do you mind if we…"

"Mell if you don't get your ass over there and dance with that man I'm gonna smack you."

"Thanks." Carmella smiled.

The couples gathered on the dance floor. Vanessa stood off to the side. Shortly after Dean had entered the room, Seth entered behind him. His hair was pulled back neatly and he was dressed in a nice black suit. He walked over to her with a smile.

"You look beautiful." He said to her.

"You don't clean up so bad yourself there." She said with a smile. "Are you sure you wanna do this? Once we go out there there's no going back."

Instead of replying with words, he just took her by the hand and walked her onto the dance floor. He put his arms around her waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck as they began to dance.

"Did you tell Dean on the way over?" Vanessa asked.

"He'll figure it out." He answered. "He's off bothering Alexa somewhere."

"Well good. At least he's useful for something."

"Um excuse me. What the fuck?" Carmella said as she stood next to them.

"Hey Mella."

"What the hell. He's here, in a suit, and you're with him, and what the hell?"

"As it turns out, he actually isn't as horrible as I thought." Vanessa said. "Deep down there's actually a sweet guy in there. Disguised as a dick."

Seth laughed. "Thanks, I think?"

"When the hell did this happen?"

"I've had a crush on this woman for years. She was always so shy and quiet and had a large older brother that would never let me near her. I never thought I stood a chance. But one day I took it."

"And for some reason instead of slapping him and running away, I ran towards it. And learned there was so much more to him than I imagined."

"I know what you're thinking, and I'm not going to hurt her. I promise." Seth added.

"But."

"I'll tell you what. Come over this weekend and spend the night. We'll talk and I'll explain everything. For now, you go enjoy your night with E."

Carmella reluctantly walked back to E, looking over her shoulder.

"This is going to be weird." Vanessa said to Seth.

"Yeah, but at least we have Roman on our side."

"We'll have them too. Once they see you for who you really are and not for who you put off. Tonight will be a good start if you just be yourself and have fun." She said with a smile. She slightly glanced around. "I feel like everyone is staring."

"So let them." Seth told her, showing that he was proud to be seen with her. "Did you still want me to come over for dinner on Sunday? You know, when other people are actually home."

Vanessa laughed. "Of course I do. Just be warned, I did tell Randy if things went well tonight that he could meet the guy I'm seeing at graduation."

"Yeah and that's still a few weeks away."

"It is, but when I told him that he got annoyed that I wouldn't tell him who it was. And eventually he said "fine. At least it's not one of the idiots next door" and I was like "Well…." so he may show up too this weekend."

"Great." He said sarcastically.

"Don't worry, he won't kill you. At least not with my parents there anyway."

"You know that really doesn't help much."

Vanessa laughed. "So, on another topic, I need to decide on a college."

"What are you thinking about?"

"I really was thinking about Boston, but that's a bit of a hike from here, and from you…"

"Hey. Don't worry about that. If we want this to work it'll work no matter where you go. Do not change something that big just because we started dating. Go where you want to go and I'll support you." He encouraged.

Vanessa was relieved. He sounded so sweet and sincere. She was afraid that if she went away this early in the relationship he'd be upset and just end it. But she didn't want to switch up where she wanted to go based on a relationship where the future was so unsure. But he again showed just how caring he was.

"Hey you, pretty boy." Zelina said interrupting their dance. "We're all going to Vince's diner after prom. You're coming. And don't try to skip out on the electric slide. You need to be stupid like the rest of it."

Without waiting for a reply, she walked away back to her date.

"Well I guess we know what we're doing for dinner!"

"Apparently so."

"You have to understand the only thing they know of you is an entitled jerk. They're as confused as I was."

"I know I know. I'll be on my best behavior." He stated.

"Where was this person the last few years?"

"I guess you just bring out the best in me." He said with a smile, then leaned in and kissed her. "So after the diner, did you still want to go to the hotel? If not that's okay…"

"Of course I do. Can't break a prom night tradition. But do you think it'll still be good if it's actually planned and we're not at risk of being interrupted?" Vanessa joked.

"I could always give the room key to Dean and tell him to randomly show up." Seth offered jokingly.

"I will kill you." Vanessa threatened.

The slow music had stopped and a more upbeat song had started to play.

"Come on, let's go show them that you can loosen up. Then we can go over and meet Roman's date." Vanessa said as she let go of her hold on his and took his hand.


End file.
